The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1887-03-03
CANTON TO CALIFORNIA.
An Interesting Letter Written by Mr.
Conrad SOhWsltZer.
A PEN Picture of New OrleAns--A Few
Hours Among the Eeasers"--Former
q CantOnIans Met In the west--
The Golden Gate, Etcs

Following Is letter to John f. Blake
Esd, from Mr.. Conrad Schweitzer, Oi
this city, who, with his wife, are paying
visit to California:
Los ANGELES, CAL, February II.
MY DEAR SIR:--TwO weeks ago we lefl
1 Canton en- route for the Golden Gate and
to-day finds Us In the beautiful city Of
Los Angeles where we arrived last Mon.
dsy, having been eleven DAYS. on the
way, two Of which we spent at Chicago
tWORt New Orleans, and one at ri PasO,
Texas.
You asked me before l left to write
you some Of my observations In travel
and at rest, to which assented and am
now engaged In the effort to fulfill the
the pledge. Chicago and the country
from there to New Orleans you are
familiar with. l cannot enlighten you
much thereon. Oar route from Chicago
to New Orleans was via the Illinois
Central, through the States of Illinois,
Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and
Louisiana. What there Is to be seen
In the northern portion Of the first
named Is fairly attractive to the native
Stark cOuntian, but after you leave the
Illinois line 1t is absolutely surprising
to observe how primitive the country
and It's inhabitants yet are. The basis
Of comparison Is Stark county and Can
ton, of course. We did not make any
stops except for meals and my obserVa-
tions were casual and Of the eye only,
except at the eating houses, which are,
am free to say, abOminable. am apt
to Judge a people pretty much by what
they eat, will eat or ask stranger to
eat That proposition will not hold
good where fair viands are not to be
had, but surely Chicago and New o.
leans, at either end Of the line, would
suggest average table fare between the
two points. The Chicago end Of 1t Is all
right, but on arrival and examination
Into the affairs Of New Orleans Is almost
sure to disDel the expectation on hehslf
of that famous and historic city. New
Orleans is beyond question attractive
only In Its unattractiVeness. | cannot
conceive what inducement would pre-
val on cne who had seen better things, TO
settle there Most of the streets, houses
and their surroundings appear In con-
ditiOn of absolute filth. Really the
streets bear the appearance OF never
having been swept, are narrow and un-
comfortably uneven. The French
Market" one Of the few so.called attrac-
tiOns, supports my assertion Of "sttrsc-
tive In Its unattTactiveness." True 1t is
an extensive affair In proportions, but
the arrangements are remarkably un-
systemetized, of ofssnitary precautiOn and
requirements there appear none. No
wonder yellow fever, cholera, smallpox
and the like fl 1uTish. Anything detest-
able would flourish In such locality.
/ noticed In the streets surrounding the
market decayed vegetable and animal
matter that had been thrown from the
stalls, In fact ! saw dealers throw 1t.
The country about New Orleans is
marshy. We drove out to Lake POnch-
artrain and the Spanish Fort, and In
going there passed through the ceme
teries; the dead, as you are aware, are all
buried above or upon terra firma, vaults
being largely In use. The dairies are
In the same neighborhoOd. New
Orleans, understand, gets Its
milk supply from them, and l
congratulate myself that l am pos
sessed of a stomach that will not toler-
ate milk, for after sight Of those dair.
les IL certainly would turn the stomach
Of the lover of milk with disgust. The
stencil emitted from the enclosures Is
horrible. In that industry, again, ssni-
tary precautions seem to be incOnsid
crate. The hotels at N. 0. are of the
poorest. The St. Charles, the oldest,
and am told place of historic reputp,
the best In the city, is a miserably kept
hOstelry. The table is bad, the service
In oDd tho r0nuno ond hada oHa
shameful apologies to offer civilized
human beings for resting places. was
astOunded to fiud such q state of affairs
existing in the metropolis Of the South.
Complaints are unaVsiling, for they tell
you 1t is the best they've got. The water,
as you know, Is of the worst, and i'm.
8gine the average New 0rleanlte drinks
something poorer and stronger. For
ourselves we hated to wash In 1t, and
drank as little of 1t as possible. We
left the unattractive place Wednesday
last.
From New Orleans through the
eastern portion Of Texas one
sees a good, fertile and productive
country. Cotton, t0,l, wheat, fruits
aud vegetables are raised In abundance. |
We arrived at 81 PasO, Texas, Saturday
February 5th, where we were
allowed, or rather, our train stopped, "a !!
hours. Found very busy town Of from
five to six thousand inhabitants, among |
them quite colony of former CantOni- |
ans, all of them, however, at one Occu- |
patton, viz, the affairs of the First Ma |
tiOnal Bank, saw there Joshua Bay.
nOlds, John collars, John Krause and |
Alov HafnnoRlnar n 20 l
Mexico In street car. The river (RiO |
Grande) Is bridged, and the cars pass
over the bridge. This Is said to be the
only International street car line In the |
world.
Gambling Is one of the extensive vices |
Of Ell PasO. Everybody Il Q. 1t seems |
everybody, our Canton friends excepted) |
II appears indulges. The American, the
Mexican, the Chinaman, all Of them In
dulge In their respective national games
Of chance, and apparently ''carte
blanche" for there is no restraint or So
crecy about It, Everything is open end
above board, and the police offer no in
reference, whilst hundreds c0ngregate |
every night at the gambling resorts to
have fortune either smile or fr0wn on |
their undertakings.
We spent an hour or so In the ancient
city Of Pas0 del NOrte, Gust across the
river from El PasO) Mexico. Tho place
consists Of adobe (mud brick) houses al
most entirely. Saw and inspected a
church three hundred years
old. Quite an ancient and strange look
ing structure. Saw the bastile where
the American editor, was i'm
prisoned, and whose case almost In
V0IVed US In serious diplomatic compli-
cations with Mexico. The fGreasers' In /
the neighbOrhO0d Of Paso del Norte had
m idea they could Rnnihllate US In less
than no time and were "eager for the
Tray" Their conception Of our country